Pressure For Digital Domination is High: Elie Tahari Speaks

Elie Tahari just relaunched his brand’s website, which “will combine e-commerce with elevated editorial content and social media,while enhancing its customers’ online shopping experiences.” A fashion brand is only as strong as its online presence as of late and the company is totally committing to the online community with a Tumblr, original content on site and a post-runway show opportunity to buy. We chatted with the fashion mogul about his web-savvy endeavors, Joe Zee and what to expect from his Spring runway.

Why was this a good time for you to relaunch?Our clothes are about elaborate detailing and fine workmanship, and we wanted to wait until the technology was there to be able to showcase that .We have also expanded the business into so many different product categories and we wanted to relaunch the website with the “world of Elie Tahari,” just as you would see the product together in one of our stores.

There are many new social media components, why is it important for businesses, and fashion businesses in particular, to embrace things like Tumblr et al?The global reach of social media is incredible- in just a few seconds, we can send a message on Facebook or Twitter and reach thousands of Elie Tahari fans and customers…I love to tweet!

Tell me about the site exclusives… Why was it something you wanted to do?Some of the exclusives on the site include silver fox fur Samara vest, calf leather Emma Jacket and a special navy crocodile handbag collection. We wanted to offer something special for our customers to celebrate the launch and get them excited.

Tell me about how you see the Elie Tahari girl? Who is she?The Elie Tahari woman is confident, sophisticated and sexy. Our collection complements her, allowing her personality and beauty to shine through.

Who do you think is doing a great job in the social media/e-commerce space now?I think Joe Zee is doing an amazing job reaching his fans through social media!

You are allowing customers to buy from the runway directly after the show, there are other sites built around this premise, why do you think it’s a good idea?I think it’s exciting for people to buy something right away, instead of waiting 6 months for it to hit the floor at retail. From a production standpoint it’s challenging, but we are looking forward to offering our web customers the opportunity to buy pieces from the Fall 2012 collection directly after the show.